iMovie s Interface


iMovie's Interface

In iMovie, everything happens in one big window (Figure 6.5). Use the resize control in the lower-right corner to change the window's size, or click the green Zoom button in the upper-left corner to maximize the window.

Figure 6.5. iMovie is broken down into three main sections: the Monitor, the Clips pane, and the Timeline, which can switch between the Clip Viewer and the Timeline Viewer (shown here).


The interface comprises three main areas: the Monitor, where you view video clips; the Clips pane, where clips are stored; and the Timeline, which toggles between the Clip Viewer and Timeline Viewer, where you assemble your movie.

Tips

  • To help improve performance, try reducing iMovie's window to its minimum size. If the Monitor is smaller, iMovie doesn't need to expend as much processing power drawing video on the screen.

  • If you're fortunate enough to have a large display, such as Apple's giant Cinema HD Display, the Monitor enlarges when you increase the size of iMovie's window. However, the Clips pane doesn't display more columns, which would be a treat.

  • Choose Show Full Video Resolution from the Window menu to view your movie in a pixelaccurate-sized view.


The Monitor

The Monitor is where you view and edit clips. A few controls, such as the Scrubber Bar, affect how you edit your clips (Figures 6.6 and 6.7). The playback controls are context-sensitive, and can play clips (Figure 6.8) or control a camcorder (Figure 6.9, next page).

Figure 6.6. The left side of iMovie's Monitor controls.


Figure 6.7. The right side of iMovie's Monitor controls.


Figure 6.8. Use these playback controls when you're in iMovie's Edit Mode. To rewind or fast-forward through a clip or movie, use the Scrubber Bar.


Figure 6.9. With Camera Mode enabled, the buttons control the camera's playback functions.


Monitor controls
  • Monitor window. View clips and incoming video from a camcorder.

  • Camera Mode/Edit Mode switch. Toggle between these modes to either import or edit video footage. If multiple cameras are connected, click the Camera Mode icon and choose one from the popup menu that appears.

  • Volume slider. Set the playback volume by dragging the knob or clicking a spot on the slider; this doesn't affect clip volume.

  • Playhead. Drag the Playhead to any point within your movie or clip; the numbers beside it indicate the time location within the movie.

  • Scrubber Bar. When viewing an entire movie, the Scrubber Bar includes lines marking clips and transitions. This is also where you can select portions of clips and cut, copy, or crop them (see Chapter 8).

Playback controls (Edit Mode)
  • Home. Click here to move to the start of the movie (or to the beginning of an individual clip if selected in the Clips pane).

  • Play. Click this button to play the video in real time. Click it again to stop playback (or hit the spacebar).

  • Play Full Screen. This button plays the video using the entire screen. Click the mouse or press any key to stop playback and return to the normal window.

Playback controls (Camera Mode)
  • Import. With a camera attached, click this button to begin saving the video to your hard disk. Click it again to stop capturing.

  • Rewind/Review. Click this button to rewind the camcorder's tape. If the tape is playing, click and hold to review (play backwards) the footage quickly. Release the button to resume normal playback.

  • Stop. This button stops the camcorder's tape and ceases playback.

  • Play. Click this button to play the video in real time.

  • Pause. Click this button to pause, but still view, the camera's playback. Click it again to resume.

  • Fast Forward. Click to advance the tape without playing it. As with the Rewind/Review control, if the tape is playing, click and hold to view the footage accelerated, then release the button to resume normal playback.

Tips

  • If playback in Edit Mode seems stuttery, try changing the playback method. Choose Preferences from the iMovie HD menu (or press Command-comma), and click the Playback icon. Choose a quality setting by clicking its radio button (Figure 6.10), then close the Preferences window.

    Figure 6.10. Experiment with the Quality settings in iMovie's preferences if your playback is choppy while editing.

  • In Edit Mode, the spacebar activates and deactivates the Play button. In Camera Mode, the spacebar activates the Import button.

  • Use the left and right arrow keys to move the video in one-frame increments when you're in Edit Mode. Hold Shift and use the arrow keys to move 10 frames at a time.


Review and Fast Forward

In Edit Mode, there are no buttons for reviewing (rewinding) and fast-forwarding your movie during playback. However, the functionality is there: press [ (left bracket) to review, press ] (right bracket) to fast-forward. To stop playback, hit the keys again or press the spacebar. (Note that these steps differ from iMovie 3, which required using the Command key. Now, pressing Command and a bracket key navigates bookmarks. See "Using Bookmarks," in Chapter 8.)

These features are always good for a laugh, too, when you've been editing for hours without a break: the audio plays at the same sped-up rate.


The Clips pane

Think of the Clips pane as a big rack filled with lots of videocassettes, photos, and audio reels (but much better organized); this is where you store your raw footage in preparation for editing (Figure 6.11). It's also where you find controls for working with themes, photos, audio, titles, transitions, effects, and chapter markers for iDVD or GarageBand.

Figure 6.11. The Clips pane, in addition to storing clips, serves as the area for controlling other features such as transitions, effects, and titles.


Clips pane components
  • Clips pane. The purpose of the Clips pane is to store your clips, which are arranged in a grid. Use the scroll bar at right to view more clips.

  • Pane buttons. The Clips pane doubles as the control center for working with themes, photos, audio, titles, transitions, and effects. Click one of the buttons at the bottom to activate a pane. (Each is discussed at length throughout the book.)

  • List buttons. In iMovie HD 6, the Media and Editing panes include separate lists for functions such as photos, titles, and effects. After you click a pane button, click a list button at the top of the pane to narrow your choices (Figure 6.12).

    Figure 6.12. Click a button at the top of a pane to access lists of media or editing features.

Tip

  • You may know the Clips pane by its former clever moniker, the Shelf, if you've used a version of the software prior to iMovie HD 6.


The Timeline

The Clips pane may hold all of your raw video clips, but you don't have a movie until you start moving them to the Timeline, which encompasses the Clip Viewer and Timeline Viewer. The viewers are two different ways of looking at the structure of your movie.

The Clip Viewer displays clips in the order that they play, with large thumbnail previews to help identify them (Figure 6.13). The Timeline Viewer arranges the clips in order and also depicts their lengths (Figure 6.15, opposite page).

Figure 6.13. Using the Clip Viewer is often easier than the Timeline Viewer when adding clips.


Speaking of length, you can always view the duration of your movie at the bottom of the iMovie window (Figure 6.14). With nothing selected, you see the total duration; with one or more clips selected, iMovie displays the amount of time they represent.

Figure 6.14. Look to the bottom of the main window to view lengths of specific clips and of the total movie.

Nothing selected

One clip selected

Multiple clips selected


Figure 6.15. The Timeline Viewer offers a better sense of how much time a clip occupies.


The Timeline also includes audio tracks and controls for changing aspects of a clip, which I discuss in the next few chapters.

Clip Viewer components
  • Clip Viewer button. Click the filmstrip icon to display the Clip Viewer, or press Command-E to toggle between viewers.

  • Transitions. When you add a transition to your movie, an icon indicates which clip(s) it's attached to (see Chapter 11).

Timeline Viewer components
  • Timeline Viewer button. Click the clock icon to bring this viewer to the front, or press Command-E.

  • Video track. The top horizontal bar represents the video track, where clips are displayed according to their lengths. Transitions also appear here, with an icon similar to those found in the Clip Viewer.

  • Audio tracks. iMovie gives you two separate audio tracks to work with, just below the video track. Audio can be extracted from video clips or imported and edited on these tracks.

  • Zoom slider. This control determines how much of the Timeline is shown in the viewer: with the slider at the left, the entire movie appears in the Timeline; with the slider button at full right, you may see only a few seconds, depending on your movie's length. Zooming in is helpful when you're editing small clips or transitions.

  • Clip-specific sound controls. The volume control slider only applies to a selected clip (Figure 6.16). See Chapter 10 for more on editing audio.

    Figure 6.16. The sound control at the bottom only applies to selected clips.

  • Mute switches. Uncheck a box to turn off the volume in its associated video or audio track (Figure 6.17, next page). This doesn't affect any volume adjustments you've made to particular clips.

    Figure 6.17. Mute switches turn audio on and off for an entire track. The Project Trash and free space indicator appear in the Clip Viewer as well.

Project Trash and free space indicator
  • Project Trash. When you delete clips, they're sent to the Project Trash; the amount of data in the trash is indicated to the right of the icon (Figure 6.17). Clicking the Trash gives you the option to empty it or pull items out (see Chapter 7).

  • Free space indicator. The numbers indicate the amount of available space on the hard disk where your project is stored. When the text turns yellow, you're getting low; red text means you're critically low on space.

Tip

  • iMovie HD no longer features the Clip Speed slider, which used to be below the Timeline Viewer and enabled you to speed up or slow down clips. Instead, that functionality has been moved to the Fast/Slow/Reverse effect in the Effects pane (see Chapter 13).


Changing View Preferences

You can tweak some of the ways clips are displayed by setting options in iMovie's preferences (Figure 6.18).

  • Automatically resize window to fit project. This option depends on the project's video format.

  • Only show audio locking when selected. You can lock audio clips individually, which are then shown with a pin icon (see Chapter 10). This option shows the icon only when the clip is selected.

    Figure 6.18. A few of iMovie's preferences affect how clips appear in the Clip Viewer and Timeline Viewer.


Monitoring Your Movies

iMovie's Monitor window is invaluable, and the Play Full Screen feature is helpful when you need to get a better feel for how the movie will display. However, consider hooking up an external television or AV monitor so you can see how your movie will really look to your audience (Figure 6.19). (If your movies are destined only for display on the Web or via email, you may not want to go to this trouble.)

Figure 6.19. Adding an external television or AV monitor to your iMovie setup lets you see how the video appears on a real video screen.


You'll need your computer, a television or AV monitor with RCA-style input jacks, and your digital camcorder. You'll also need the FireWire cable to hook up your camcorder to your Mac, and the AV cable that came with your camcorder, which allows you to view movies on a TV (it normally has three connectors on one endyellow, red, and whiteand a single connector that plugs into the camera, though some models work with S-video cabling, too).

To hook up an external monitor:

1.

Connect the camera to your computer via the FireWire cable.

2.

Connect the television to your camera using the AV cable.

3.

Switch the television's mode from TV to Video, if necessary.

4.

In iMovie, choose Preferences from the iMovie menu.

5.

Click the Playback icon, and then click the checkbox labeled Play DV project video through to DV camera.

6.

Close the Preferences window. Your movie should now appear on the TV.

Tips

  • Monitoring works only with DV projects, not HDV or MPEG-4.

  • Plug in the camera's AC adapter while you're working, so you don't drain the battery.






iMovie HD 6 & iDVD 6 for Mac OS X (Visual QuickStart Guide Series)
iMovie HD 6 and iDVD 6 for Mac OS X
ISBN: 0321423275
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 197
Authors: Jeff Carlson

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net